British Council: Art Exhibitions Overseas

Lord Triesman: The British Council, although not a government department, receives a substantial grant-in-aid from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The council regularly organises or sponsors exhibitions overseas of works of art loaned from national galleries and private collections in the United Kingdom. It provides certain assurances or guarantees in respect of loss or damage while these works are on loan.
	In the six months ending on 30 September 2005, the British Council provided such assurances to 15 national lenders and undertakings to 79 private lenders. The value of the contingent liabilities outstanding on 30 September 2005 in respect of private lenders was £14,758,122 and in respect of national lenders it was £24,676,000.

Immigration: Civil Partnerships

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My honourable friend the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality (Tony McNulty) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Immigration (Procedure for Formation of Civil Partnerships) Regulations 2005 and the Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules [HC 582] will be laid today and copies will be placed in the Library.
	The Civil Partnership Act 2004 comes into force on 5 December. At the same time as the Act comes into force, the immigration rules will be amended to ensure that civil partners and proposed civil partners are afforded the same treatment as spouses and fiancés.
	Those subject to immigration control wishing to register a civil partnership will be required to demonstrate that they have:
	an entry clearance granted for the purpose of registering a civil partnership;
	a certificate of approval from the Home Office; or
	settled status in the UK.
	In order to qualify for a certificate of approval applicants will normally need to have been granted more than six months' leave in the United Kingdom and have at least three months of that leave remaining.
	To assist those wishing to give notice, on 5 December the Immigration and Nationality Directorate will accept applications for certificates of approval and entry clearance for civil partnership from 14 November. Application forms will be made available on the IND website before this date. Applicants should not use the COA marriage application form as this will lead to their application being returned and may mean that we are unable to process the application on the correct form in time for them to give notice.
	We will aim to process and return applications received between 14 and 21 November ready for applicants to give notice at the earliest opportunity. However, we will provide this service only where the applicant qualifies for a certificate of approval.

Regional Development Agencies

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: My right honourable friend the Minister for Industry and the Regions (Alun Michael) has made the following Written Ministerial Satement.
	On 21 July I laid before Parliament the annual reports and accounts for England's eight regional development agencies (RDAs) outside London for 2004–05 and the RDAs' reported Tier 3 output results for 2004–05. Copies were placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
	It has since been brought to my attention that the output figure for employment opportunities was reported inaccurately by Advantage West Midlands. Amended copies of the output results have been placed in the Libraries of the House, and are also available on the DTI website at www.dti.gov.uk/rda/info. The correct figure is 11,760, which is above the agency's target of 11,200. The incorrect figure given in July was 15,439.

Sinn Fein: Assembly Allowances

Lord Rooker: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Peter Hain) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	In my Written Statement of 19 October, I said that I had decided to restore Sinn Fein's Assembly allowances with effect from 1 November.
	As I am required to do by Section 95A(2) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, I have today laid in Parliament the direction I have made which gives effect to that decision. Accordingly, Sinn Fein's entitlement to the financial assistance payable to the parties represented in the Northern Ireland Assembly will be restored from 1 November.

South Asia Earthquake

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	As each day passes, the true scale of the disaster is becoming clearer. Due to the mountainous nature of the terrain, many areas could not be accessed immediately, and some have still not been reached. The government of Pakistan now report that 51,400 people have died with 74,500 injured. The number of homeless people is estimated to be between 2.7 million and 3.2 million. The homeless are in urgent need of shelter, blankets, and warmth.
	On 20 October I visited Muzaffarabad and Balakot and saw the scale of the devastation. We are now in a race against time to save lives as winter sets in and temperatures drop below zero. On the same day, I allocated an additional £20 million to the relief and recovery effort. This brings DfID's total pledge to date to £33 million; £9 million of this new allocation is already earmarked for the relief operation including an extra £1 million for medical support and services, an extra £1 million in support of water and sanitation, and an extra £1 million towards shelter.
	The government of Pakistan and the international community face massive challenges in reaching the population affected in remote areas. DfID has committed a sizeable part of the new allocation to supporting the co-ordination and logistical effort. UK support includes £3 million for helicopters including three British military heavy lift CH-47 Chinook helicopters, as well as four helicopters already being funded by DfID through the UN and Red Cross. DfID has also earmarked a further £1 million for logistics, transport and coordination, and £2 million for the Red Cross movement which includes helicopters as well as the provision of immediate relief supplies such as blankets, tents and water. The remaining funds, around £12 million, will be allocated as needed.
	Of the £13 million previously announced DfID has allocated: £5 million for the UN Flash Appeal; £3 million to pay for in-kind donations and airlifts for the Disasters Emergency Committee; £1.5 million for the Red Cross; £300,000 for Save the Children UK for the provision of tents, blankets, clothing, primary health care and services to help reunify families; £300,000 for Christian Aid for tents, food packages, shelter kits, first aid and medical assistance; and £300,000 for Action Aid for the provision of relief, food packages, shelter, health centres, tents, medical supplies and support. Also, £1,660,000 has been provided by the UK as part of the EU's aid contribution through the European Commission Humanitarian Organisation (ECHO).
	The UK search and rescue teams returned on 14 and 15 October, having been involved in the rescue of 14 people. The Government, through DfID's emergency response team, have also: undertaken 13 relief flights carrying a total of 900 tonnes of emergency supplies; organised and funded 23 Disasters Emergency Committee flights with another three planned over the next few days; paid for half of the World Health Organisation's appeal to provide enough health and trauma kits to support 40,000 people for three months; and provided logistical support to the United Nations including vehicles, airport handling equipment and a Humanitarian Information Centre.
	Further information on the emergency response can be found at www.dfid.gov.uk. Staff at the High Commission in Islamabad continue to offer consular assistance to British nationals in Pakistan and who are travelling to the affected area to search for relatives. Sadly, there has been one confirmed British fatality, a 12 year-old boy from Luton. We have helped his injured parents obtain expert medical attention, accommodation and provided them with emergency passports. A few missing persons remain unaccounted for and High Commission staff are continuing to try to locate them.
	In recognition of the fact that many people here in the UK will be grieving for or concerned about relatives caught up in the tragedy, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who has responsibility for the aftercare of disaster victims, has arranged for the 7 July assistance centre to extend its helpline to those affected by the South Asia Earthquake. The centre is offering advice and support services on which people can draw. The helpline number is 0845 70547444.